Islanders 4, Flyers 2

Associated Press

UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) - Chris Campoli found his name in the spotlight on a night where past New York Islanders greats were honored.

Campoli's power-play goal through traffic with 8:39 left was the winner as the Islanders defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 4-2 on Saturday night.

"It feels great," Campoli said. "Finally, we have some things coming together, and this was certainly one of the most physical games we've played all year."

With New York on a two-man advantage, Campoli's right-point shot sailed past Islanders forward Trent Hunter - who was originally credited with the goal - Philadelphia defenseman Derian Hatcher, and goalie Antero Niittymaki to give the Islanders their second straight win.

"The game is on the line, and we took two poor penalties in the third period," Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We competed at a high level, we just got beat."

Hunter made it 4-2 with an empty-net goal with 2.5 seconds left.

U.S. Olympians Mark Parrish and Jason Blake each registered their 23rd goals of the season for New York, while American goalie Rick DiPietro stopped 19 shots for his 21st win.

Petr Nedved and Mike Knuble scored for the Flyers, who are winless in four games and have only three wins in 12 contests (3-7-2). Niittymaki finished with 22 saves.

New York excelled on special teams, scoring two power-play goals and holding Philadelphia to one goal in six advantages.

"Special teams are what usually win games," Hunter said. "We were working hard on both sides of that."

Philadelphia registered its first shot with 5 minutes left in the scoreless opening period while on a power play. Two shots and 38 seconds later, they had a 1-0 lead.

DiPietro tried a clearing wraparound, but the puck kicked out of the corner right to Nedved. He quickly fired the puck into the open net before DiPietro could recover.

The Islanders tied it at 10:32 of the second period on the back end of a five-on-three power play. Blake had the puck on a sharp angle at the right crease and banked the puck off a Flyers player past Niittymaki.

New York missed a chance to take the lead when Niittymaki made a stick save on a penalty shot by Robert Nilsson at 12:31.

Earlier in the period, the Flyers missed on two opportunities off another DiPietro clearing attempt, as Nedved and Peter Forsberg were robbed at 2:30.

"I had an open net and I shot it and he fell right back on it," Forsberg said. "He made a good save."

DiPietro said that he was lucky to get back in time.

"On the first one, someone got a piece of it," DiPietro said. "Luckily, I swung my head around to see him and got my glove and arm up in time."

Parrish put the Islanders up with 58.9 seconds left in the period when he got a piece of the puck on a one-timer from the left circle. The puck flew over Niittymaki's right shoulder into the net.

Knuble tied it at 7:38 of the final period when his right circle wrist shot got between DiPietro's pads.

The Islanders are chasing a playoff spot, and DiPietro said that the team realizes the seriousness of the situation.

"This was as desperate as I've seen us this year," DiPietro said. "We're not in a position to look at the scoreboard. We have to control what we can."

Islanders coach Brad Shaw was pleased with what he saw.

"The individual puck battles that we were losing earlier this season, we won our share tonight," Shaw said.

Notes: The Islanders held a pregame ceremony honoring the first Stanley Cup winning team of 1980. The biggest hands were for Bryan Trottier, Mike Bossy, Billy Smith and Denis Potvin, who carried the Cup on the ice. ... In honor of former general manager Bill Torrey, Islanders coach Brad Shaw and his assistants wore bow ties. ... There was only one shot recorded in the first 14:06. ... The Islanders wore their white jerseys at home for only the second time this season. ... Nilsson's penalty shot was only the second awarded to the Islanders this season. Miroslav Satan missed on Oct. 10 at home against Florida.